Saturday, August 6, 2011

Report: 'Desperate Housewives' to end this year

Bad news, fans of the ladies of Wisteria Lane.

According to TV Line, long-running ABC series "Desperate Housewives" is signing off after the upcoming season. A source who talked to TV Guide in July hinted that the end may be coming, but thought the decision

wouldn't be made until after the season began. “It’s all dependent on the ratings,” the insider told TV Guide at the time.

Media reps for "Desperate Housewives" told TODAY.com that reports of the show's conclusion in May is "all speculative at this point." They also confirmed to TODAY.com that ABC will have the official word on Sunday, when the network presents at the Television Critics Association's summer press tour in Los Angeles.

When TODAY.com asked actor Kevin Rahm, who plays Lee McDermott, on Friday about ABC's rumored decision to end the show after the eighth season, he said, "They haven’t told me yet."

But he does have an idea of how he'd like Lee's story on Wisteria Lane to end. "Artistically, I want to go down big. I want to knock someone off, or die, or have been a secret agent the whole time," he told TODAY.com.

However, it's not yet clear if Rahm will return for the potential final season. He said that "Housewives" offered him a one-year contract last year, and allowed him to do pilot season. He then landed the role of Jack on the upcoming Fox sitcom "I Hate My Teenage Daughter," which Rahm was promoting at the Television Critics Association's summer press tour in Los Angeles Friday. "I got this job ("Daughter"), then they kind of lost their chance at me," he said.

Should ABC want him back for "Housewives," Rahm told TODAY.com, "Time will not be the issue. It’ll be an issue of ... contracts and Fox and ABC. It’ll be out of my hands. If it were up to me, I would do both for the rest of the year."

When asked about the "Housewives' " eighth season, Rahm said, "Like all shows, anything after seven years is different than it was in the beginning. But I think it’ll go down as being a very influential show and a fun show. I still love it."

"And at the same time, I’m ready to close that chapter and move on to this one," Rahm told TODAY.com. "I’m excited."

The new season of "Housewives" premieres Sept. 25 at 9 p.m. on ABC. "I Hate My Teenage Daughter" debuts on Fox at 9 p.m. on Nov. 23.